Le Grand Fou Band, Au 7eme Ciel

Synth master Jean-Marc Foussat and some of his illustrious European colleagues have gathered together as the 17-member Grand Fou Band. They show us a wide swatch of enlivening, colorful free improvisations on their recent album Au 7eme Ciel (petit label 020).

Guitar, piano, drums, synths, accordion, voices, six horns and five strings (including contrabass) make up the confluence of sounds. Joao Camoes, Jean-Luc Cappozzo, Sylvain Guerineau, Makoto Sato and of course Jean-Marc Foussat are some of the more familiar artists involved. It is very much a group effort, however, a collage of great power at times, great introspection at others, but ever in motion.

It is surely one of the outstanding large free band ventures in recent years. The kaleidoscope of sound is spectacular and unrelentingly focused. Beautiful!